“He was in his car when he was stabbed and he was able to drive a short distance before being overcome by his injury and crashed into a wall.

“As a consequence, the killers plan to dispose of his body (in the storm drain) and thus remove any trace of their involvement failed and it was from this point the police investigation began and ultimately led to their identification and arrest.“

Mr House told the jury: “The issue is whether Casey was a joint party in the murder; were they in it together?”

He said the stabbing happened inside the car and was not captured on CCTV.

After running away the defendants allegedly disposed of the murder weapon, a “hunting-style knife,” recovered from the nearby pond – and shown in court.

The knife, despite being submerged, had the DNA of Mr Smith and Law on it.

Its’ sheath found floating in the water also had their DNA on, along with a small amount of Casey’s, although not sufficient for legal purposes, said Mr House.

Mr Smith’s collision with the wall attracted attention and the emergency services attended.

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A paramedic realised the alleged victim had suffered a stab in his chest and despite emergency open heart surgery, in the back of an ambulance, he could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 9.11pm.

Mr House said the plan to carry the body along the path into the storm drain was no longer viable after the collision.

He said: “Casey claims he didn’t know about the plan to meet up with Mr Smith.

“It’s absolutely plain these two men are acting in concert and now they’re carrying out the plan they made.”

The court heard that the police obtained copies of the Badoo conversation between Mr Smith and Law, which had been deleted from Law’s phone.

It revealed Law had, a few days before the killing, been planning to murder another person, via the same website, and discussed it on Facebook Messenger with Casey.

Law had asked the man, Michael, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, if he would teach him to drive in return for sexual favours.

The man agreed, saying he had an Audi A1 car.

Law had informed Casey of the proposed meeting with Michael on March 13. Casey had messaged Law saying: “You mean ...” with an emoji picture of a knife. Law replied: “Nah he’s a big guy, I think I’d need a 10-inch blade.”